The Real Thing RPG

"Play through an exploration of personal desperation and rebirth, as long as you aren't faint of heart. Fans of gritty games - like Vampire the Masquerade, another 90s classic - should pick this game up!"

- Randy Dean Oest, creator of Fate SRD

Visit the store to get your Real Thing RPG products.

Buy it!

What is it? It's it!

The Real Thing is a self-contained, story-driven, pen-and-paper roleplaying game inspired by the music of Faith No More. Specifically, we have drawn significant story elements and inspiration from Faith No More’s album from 1989 entitled The Real Thing. It was groundbreaking at the time, and remains one of the best albums ever created, in our humble opinions. More to the point, however, is the fact that many of the songs revolve around similar themes and ideas, making it a perfect album around which to craft a concept RPG.

While the concept for the story is grounded in the music and words from the album of the same name, it also pulls in themes and other elements from other Faith No More titles. Song titles and lyrics from every Faith No More album are included judiciously as a gesture of fandom and respect for one of our favorite artists.

Downloads

All Playbooks

Moves Sheets

Lite Rules

I started this, it's all for me.

First and foremost, this game is for fans of the dark, gritty RPGs of the 1990s. This was the height of Vampire: the Masquerade and its sibling titles. It was when many of us were discovering Anne Rice’s works. It was a time of grunge, the war on drugs, gangsta rap, and the goth-industrial lifestyle. The story is flooded with early to mid-1990s ambiance and flavor.

The second audience consists of fans of Faith No More who also enjoy games. There is an enormous crossover of people who built their teenage experiences on the music of the 1990s and playing RPGs.

The final targeted audience includes those people who enjoy lightweight, low-density RPGs. The RPG zine market has exploded in recent years, and people have realized that short-form storytelling offers an opportunity for curated, immersive experiences. The Real Thing leverages a variation on the popular and versatile Powered by the Apocalypse gaming system and has been approved to carry that label by the system’s creators. For fans of this system, our game will be a welcomed addition to their collections. For those who have not played before, it will be easy to learn, easy to play, and easy to run.